Letter to Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management and Budget - Rep. Rosen Sends Letter to White House Urging Census Reform

Letter

Dear Director Mulvaney:

The collection of complete and accurate data in the 2020 Census is essential to ensuring that the Census produces insights that advance economic development and the fair allocation of public resources. To that end, we urge you to revise the standards in Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Records, to allow implementation of a single combined question on race and ethnicity for the 2020 Census. The Census Bureau is required by law to submit the final questions for the 2020 Census to Congress by March 31, 2018.

Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, last revised in 1997, requires the collection of race and ethnicity data based on a two-question approach. Surveys first ask a question about Hispanic descent, followed by a second question collecting detailed information on racial identification. In 2008, the Census Bureau began conducting research focused on improving the accuracy of data on race and ethnicity. This research culminated in an extensive National Content Test in 2015 that tested both the traditional two-question approach as well as a new concept based on a question that asked for both racial and ethnicity identification through a single or combined question.

Based on the results of their research, the Census Bureau and many of its stakeholders support adoption of a single-question format. This design captures the highest volume of accurate, self-reported data, and results in the greatest reduction in burden to the Census Bureau, which must interpret or impute data for non-conforming or missing responses. In fact, without alterations to the current format of government survey questions about race and ethnicity, the frequency with which participants provide vague or no answers is likely to increase, and the effort and expense required to maintain the quality and usefulness of data will also likely increase.

The decennial census is fundamentally important for sustaining our democracy and providing critical information to support good policy decisions and fuel economic growth. Census data supports the allocation of over $600 billion in federal funds annually to meet the needs of our country. It is imperative that all populations be accurately represented in the 2020 Census, and adopting the combined question is a cost-effective way to collect the most accurate and complete data on race and ethnicity.

As such, we urge you to take immediate action to issue revisions to the standards in Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 to allow the use of a combined question in the 2020 Census. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

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